Re: New battery woes

[Khan Klatt <khan@mediaaccess.com>]

At 6:13 PM -0700 9/19/2000, Tony Dipalma wrote:
>I got a new battery form the dealer
>for my 98 GLX and they advised me not
>to put the battery jacket back on.
>They said that its better to leave it
>off because it tends to act like a
>blanket and not an insulator thus,
>exposing the battery to sustained temps
>from the engine. Even with this new
>battery the jacket still fits. Do any
>of you folks believe this? Have any of
>you heard of something similar from
>other people? Should I toss this jacket
>in the trash?
>Tony

I'd say it doesn't really matter. They probably come in most handiest 
to keep heat from the engine out, and are good for quick drives. For 
longer drives, you might argue that the heat has time to leach into 
the battery. In this case, you're preventing heat from the engine 
from initially entering the battery, but when you're done driving and 
heat is no longer coming from your engine, the insulator acts as a 
blanket.

So, the cover acts both as an insulator and a blanket, depending on 
if it's the beginning or the end of a drive. If you take really long 
drives, taking it off will allow it to cool off faster. How much 
faster? It's probably insignificant for all the short drives you take 
where it insulates the heat from the engine from ever getting in 
there.

Finally, if your under hood temps get too high, the engine fan will 
come on anyway.

It's a moot point, IMO, and opinions will probably go either way. I 
happen to like the way the jacket looks, so I'd keep it on personally.

-Khan
-- 

Khan Klatt                                         khan@mediaaccess.com

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